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DHistory
History · Hobart

Hobart’s post office opened in 1903

More historic than 13% of U.S. towns · #206 of 285 in Washington. What drives it

Most of Hobart was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1985. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1953 on, and the census since 2000.

1903first post office
0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hobart’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hobart began

When was Hobart founded?

1903

The Hobart post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 6,251 in 20002020 census: 6,767123 years

How historic is Hobart?

D

More historic than 13% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Hobart post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Hobart’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hobart is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #206 of 285 in Washington. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hobart’s overall grade.
Founding era1903, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19406.1% of homes (±3.3) · typical WA town 4.3% · U.S. 8.4%CNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical WA town 0.1 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 13%
NewerOlder
Washington towns of 2,500+ (285)Ahead of 28%

Few Washington towns list much on the Register (a typical Washington town has 0.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Hobart’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (27% of Washington towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Hobart’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages8 hamlets and corners are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hobart’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hobart’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewHobart, Washington, ca. 1912: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Hobart’s post office has been open since 1903.

Hamlets and corners on the map
ArcadiaAtkinsonCedar GroveDorre DonLandsburgNobleOrchard GroveTahoma
1cemetery inside Hobart
Hobart Maple Valley

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Hobart, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Hobart yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Hobart is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 6,767 at the 2020 census. Based on per capita income, one of the more reliable measures of affluence, Hobart ranks 31st of 522 areas in the state of Washington to be ranked. The Hobart area was first settled by loggers in 1879, and originally known as "Vine Maple Valley". The name was changed when deemed too long by the Post Office. The Hobart Post Office was first opened May 9, 1903 with William Sidebotham as first postmaster. A coal mine also operated in the area as late as 1947.

Its first post office opened in 1903. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 6,221 to 6,767 (+9%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Hobart, 1903 to 1953

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1903Post officeThe Hobart post office opens
  3. 1912In the archiveHobart, Washington, ca. 1912
  4. 1935In the archiveCamp Milan, Walsh Lake Nursery, 1935
  5. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Hobart, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1930s4 items
Hobart, Washington, ca. 1912c. 1912Hobart, Washington, ca. 1912Wood & Iverson sawmill panorama, Hobart, 19151915Wood & Iverson sawmill panorama, Hobart, 1915High lead logging, Hobart, 19171917High lead logging, Hobart, 1917Camp Milan, Walsh Lake Nursery, 19351935Camp Milan, Walsh Lake Nursery, 1935
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today3 recent
2022-04-19, Little Free Library (Hobart, Washington), 0220222022-04-19, Little Free Library (Hobart, Washington),…2022-04-19, Little Free Library (Hobart, Washington), 0120222022-04-19, Little Free Library (Hobart, Washington),…Hobart WA2009Hobart WA
On the map

Hobart on the map, 1953 to 1993

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hobart. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Hobart on the 1953 USGS mapHobart on the 1968 USGS mapHobart on the 1973 USGS mapHobart on the 1993 USGS map1953Hobart sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hobart.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Hobart, Washington, ca. 1912
Retake this viewHobart, Washington, ca. 1912, c. 1912

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Hobart’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Hobart, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,5007,0007,50020002020Peak: 6,767

Between 6,221 and 6,767 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hobart’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

MirrormontIts storyD−Maple Valley1 historic placeC−East Renton HighlandsIts storyD

Questions about Hobart’s history

What year was Hobart founded?

The Hobart post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Hobart rank for history?

Hobart is more historic than 13% of U.S. towns, #206 of 285 in Washington. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Hobart?

6% of Hobart’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.3 points), against a typical 4.3% for a Washington town; the median home was built in 1985.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (7), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.